A Journey of Discovery in Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

A Journey of Discovery in Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

1544 Words7 Pages

Josephine Alibrandi, a Catholic girl, narrates the novel in her final year of High school. She attends St Martha's, a wealthy catholic school in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Her academic scholarship ensures her place at the school as she is not as well off as the population of largely wealthy Anglo-Celtic girls that attend the school. Her Italian origin has been the reason for much persecution toward her in her life. Her background against the monied origins of her peers also provides much source of angst for Josie.
She lives in the inner-city suburb of Glebe with her single mother, who takes care of her. Their rather small dwelling is the source of some embarrassment for Josie.

Josie has long craved this feeling and her father finally provides it to her. Their relationship continues to grow stronger throughout the novel, and he tells her that "If I had to choose a daughter, I would have chosen you". This remark, combined with his attitude seems to reaffirm his postion is her life. He proposes that she comes live with him in Balmain and that she becomes his adopted daughter. She is prepared to consider a name change, yet her journey of discovery dictates that she cannot leave her mother and live with Michael. He provides only part of the answer in her journey, and she realises that she cannot desert her mother.

Josie's grandfather, Francesco had a unique situation with his wife - Josie's "Nonna". Being from Italy (the old country), it was customary for arranged marriages to be set up by ones parents. This is the situation that "nonna" found herself in. However, she committed adultery, and had a child that was not fathered by Francesco. This child was Josie's mother, and Francesco always resented her. While Josie never met him, she was aware of the coolness between her mother and him, and of the unusual situation between him and her grandmother.

This realisation of Josie's leads her to question the moralistic teachings of her grandmother, considering her sinful past. Josie views this as hypocrisy on the part of her grandmother, however we the readers are left

the novel Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta, there are many representations of how fathers are portrayed in this novel. Question. Marchetta’s believes that a positive fatherhood figure is essential within a Childs life such as Michael Andretti helping his daughter, Joesphine Alibrandi achieve her emancipation. Marchetta contrasts Michael against negatively representations of fatherhood figures such as Senator Barton and Francesco Alibrandi.
In the beginning of the novel, Marchetta represents…

Josie Alibrandi goes “looking” for herself she discovers she needs to create herself.
In the novel “looking for Alibrandi, written by Melina Marchetta,” there are many different situations and feelings that Josephine Alibrandi goes through, in order to figure out who she really is as a person. Josie also has to deal with the normal up and down roller coaster ride of being a teenage girl. At the end of her journey she has very different views on certain topics to the original thoughts that she…

run to be emancipated.” Discuss.
Looking into the distance, an athlete runner can see the finishing line. However what stands before them are many hurdles one will have to jump over to reach the end. Comparing this analogy to an individual’s life, these hurdles are like the various challenges that one will have to overcome to cross their finishing line, and in order to come first, one will have to run. Melina Marchetta has written a novel, Looking for Alibrandi (LFA), which portrays the events that…

change in perspective, emotional change, physically change and world change. In Looking for Alibrandi, the author, Melina Marchetta demonstrates, the concept of change not only through the main character, Josephine, but also some other minor characters such as Michael Andretti and John Barton though the majority is shown through Josephine. The poem, “The Door” by Miroslav Holub is very similar to Looking for Alibrandi as it also shows the concept of change but it tells us that change can mean that…

I have chosen to look at films,novels and short stories that are to do with being controlled. This includes the novel ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ written by Melina Marchetta, a short story ‘On the sidewalk bleeding’ by Evan Hunter and the films ‘The Hunger games’ directed by Gary Ross and ‘The boy in the striped pyjamas’ directed by Mark Herman.
In the novel ‘Looking For Alibrandi’, Josie who is an Italian girl deals with her traumas of everyday life. Since her family is Italian she has a traditional…

choose something to read came from Jellicoe Road, a novel written by Melina Marchetta. The elements in the work played upon my emotions, causing them to overflow and my world to expand. Beforehand, I would just look for a book to read and hope to enjoy it. After reading Jellicoe Road, I now search for books with which I can make a personal connection. In my emotions and my mind, I experience the events in the characters’ journeys. I use those literary connections to escape my reality.
The overwhelming…

of self discovery? The journey of self discovery is a journey that most people take at some point during their life, whether it is very early in life or rather late in life. In the novels, Billy Lynn 's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the three protagonists have all undergone a journey on the path of self discovery. These journey range in length, depth, and significance just as these self discovery journeys vary in…

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1
Josephine Alibrandi is beginning a new school year as the vice-captain of St Martha’s school in Sydney. She promises to be good but already gets in trouble on the first day. Josie introduces herself to the reader as an Italian living in Australia. She lives with her mother, who had her before she was married, doesn’t know her father, and has a close relationship with both her mother and nonna (grandmother). When Josie arrives…

Essay 1 – ‘Looking for Alibrandi’
‘How are the differences between Australian and Italo-Australian culture displayed by Marchetta and what effects do they have on the protagonist Josie?”
Melina Marchetta’s cult text ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ looks at many issues of growing up in Australia torn between two cultures. The main protagonist Josie Alibrandi was born in Australia into a family with strong Italian cultural links and her battle to ‘find’ herself and her ethnicity is one that I will explore…

and change who you are, it takes a proud person to be proud of their culture and therefore find their place.
The novel “Looking for Alibrandi” by Melina Marchetta is a perfect representation of how our family and culture play an integral part in our journey to discover who we are and what our purpose in this life is. Seventeen year old Josephine Alibrandi is on a journey to discover who she is and how her past and present somehow intertwine. Coming from a traditional Italian background, Josie…